Basil Omelette (九層塔烘蛋)
Got basil? 🍃 This Basil Omelette is a classic Taiwanese home-cooked dish, and a great way to use up fresh basil leaves before they wilt. It’s cozy, savory, and ready in 30 minutes!
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Unlike the Thai-style basil omelette, which uses fish sauce, this recipe is fully vegetarian with simple ingredients!
Omelette or Egg Foo Young
In the West, this type of Chinese-style omelette is often referred to as egg foo young, egg foo yung, or egg fu yung. In Mandarin Chinese, egg foo young is called Fú Róng Dàn (芙蓉蛋).
Interestingly, I have had egg foo young growing up in Taiwan and China, but my memory of egg foo young is a, sometimes soupy, steamed egg dish, topped with a savory sauce with green onions and/or minced pork. The omelette-style version is believed to have been made popular in America by Chinese chefs to appeal to American diners.
Similar to the sentiment expressed in this Made with Lau’s video, The PERFECT Omelette: How Chinese Immigrants Won America (Egg Foo Young) (first 44 seconds), and drawing from my personal experience growing up in Taiwan and China, I tend to agree that Egg Foo Young is not a particular popular dish in Taiwan or China as in the United States.
To avoid confusion, I will just call this dish Chinese Omelette with Basil, or simply, Basil Omelette.
After digging around in both English and Chinese sources, it seems that “egg foo young” is just a generic term for a dish made with beaten eggs, vegetables, and meat (or seafood). There are no strict rules for which vegetables or meats to use, but fresh bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, Chinese sausages, or raw shrimp are popular choices.
Ingredients Notes And Substitutions
See the complete list of ingredients below on the recipe card.
- Eggs: The egg-to-basil ratio is three eggs per about 50 g of basil leaves (or 2-2.5 packed cups of basil).
- Fresh Basil Leaves: You can use either regular basil or Thai basil (it’s hard to find fresh Thai basil at an affordable price near me, so I opt for the big box of regular/sweet basil that is sold at Trader Joe’s; please correct me if they are not sweet basil!) Only wash as much as necessary, or else the humidity will cause them to spoil more quickly.
- Ginger & Garlic: The aromatics of this recipe!
- Sesame Oil: A regular pairing with and a wonderful complement to ginger and garlic in Taiwanese home-cooking, especially ginger!
- Salt
- Sugar: A little bit to complement and balance the overall savoriness.
- Vegetable Oil: Or other neutral oil with a high smoke point. The reason we won’t be using sesame oil as the main cooking oil is that cooking with sesame oil on high heat for a prolonged period can cause it to turn bitter.
How To Make This Recipe: A Visual Guide
Here is a quick recipe rundown and some visual instructions! The full instructions with ingredients are in the recipe card below.
- 1: Mince the ginger.
- 2: Mince or press the garlic.
- 3: Finely chop the fresh basil leaves.
- 4: Prepare three eggs.
- 5: Prepare an egg mixture.
- 6: Fry up garlic and ginger with sesame oil on low heat.
- 7: Fry until the garlic and ginger are golden brown.
- 8: Add the fried aromatics to the chopped basil leaves.
- 9: Add sugar and salt.
- 10: Add the egg mixture.
- 11: Mix well.
- 12: Add the omelette mixture to the frying pan.
- 13: Spread the omelette mixture out.
- 14: Cover the frying pan with a lid to “bake” the omelette.
- 15: Fry until the bottom turns golden brown.
- 16: Flip the omelette over, and fry until the other side is also golden brown.
If you like quick and easy egg recipes, you might also like Stir-Fried Burdock Root with Eggs! It’s not an omelette, but it’s fiber-packed, savory with a hint of natural sweetness—a total winner!
Basil Omelette
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 slices ginger minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced or pressed
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 2½ cups fresh basil leaves trimmed, no stalks
- 3 eggs
- 1 tablespoon cooking oil
Equipment
- 1 frying pan I used a 10-inch frying pan
- 1 frying pan lid lid is needed to "bake" the omelette
Instructions
To Prepare the Egg Mixture
- Prepare 2 slices ginger, then finely mince them. Press or mince 3 cloves garlic.Wash 2½ cups fresh basil leaves and chop them up finely, similar to how you would chop mint leaves for salads or drinks, releasing the aroma.Tip: If you want to use the stems, use only the most tender part of the stems. This will help maintain a consistent tender mouthfeel in the finished dish.
- In a frying pan, add 1 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 slices ginger (minced), and 3 cloves garlic (minced or pressed). Turn on low heat and slowly fry the aromatics until golden brown.When the aromatics are golden brown, turn off the heat, remove them from the frying pan, and place them in a mixing bowl.Tip: Add everything to the cold pan or wok, and use low heat to slowly fry the aromatics. Low heat is used because cooking sesame oil on high heat for a prolonged period of time can cause it to turn bitter.
- In a larger mixing bowl, add 2½ cups fresh basil leaves (chopped), the aromatics, ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon sugar, and mix well.
- In a small bowl, pre-beat 3 eggs. You can skip this step and crack the eggs directly into the bowl—just be sure to mix thoroughly for even flavor.
- Then, add the beaten eggs to the mixing bowl with all the fresh herbs and spices, and mix well.
To Make the Chinese Omelette with Basil
- In the same frying pan, add 1 tablespoon cooking oil of your choice and turn on medium-high heat until the cooking oil is hot.When the oil is hot (when it is more liquid-y), pour the egg mixture in.
- Spread the egg mixture evenly across the pan.Turn the heat down to low heat, cover the pan with a lid, and slowly "bake" the omelette for 2-3 minutes.Tip: Hot pan and hot oil (AND enough oil) are keys to fluffy eggs—especially if you’re not using a non-stick pan.
- During this time, periodically check for any burnt spots and spots that are stuck to the pan. The bottom of the omelette should be turning golden brown.After 2-3 minutes, flip the whole thing over and fry the other side of the omelette until golden brown, another 2-3 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy!
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Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated to the best of my knowledge using MyFitnessPal (which has a more comprehensive ingredient database that includes Asian food items) and is an estimate. Actual nutrition will vary based on the cooking method and specific ingredients used.
